Applicators for small to medium quantities of liquid medical adhesives, sealants and coatings (particularly those that polymerise on application, e.g. cyanoacrylates) tend to be based on mechanical rupture of a thin-walled glass or plastic ampoule contained within a flexible walled plastics housing. The squeezing of the applicator housing causes rupture of the ampoule thus allowing the liquid to be discharged through an outlet of the applicator.
Typical of the state of the art is the Duraprep™ applicator made by 3M whereby a lever is depressed causing deformation and breakage of an internal ampoule thereby releasing the enclosed fluid. Similarly the DERMABOND™ applicator made by James Alexander consists of a flexible tube which is compressed between thumb and forefinger to crush a thin-walled glass ampoule and release the fluid for dispensing. The applicators incorporate a porous component which is intended to allow discharge of the liquid but retain pieces of fractured glass within the applicator. However these applicators nevertheless can expose the user or patient to the risk of contact with broken glass.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to obviate or mitigate the above mentioned disadvantages.